International Trade International Air route builds links to Germany
Birmingham businesses are being urged to use a new air route between the city and Nuremburg to build trade links between Britain and Germany. The new route, one of three being introduced
by Bmi Regional, sees six return flights being operated from Birmingham to the Bavarian city. To celebrate the launch of the new route,
officials from Nuremburg visited Birmingham on a business exchange mission during September, an event hosted by the city’s airport. Nuremburg is an economic powerhouse, and is
known as the ‘industrial heart’ of Bavaria. The city is home to industrial giants Siemens and MAN, and some 25,000 companies are based there. The city has the fourth largest share of
Germany’s manufacturing sector, behind Wuppertal, Duisburg, Bremen and Bielefeld and is second only to Munich, in terms of its share of the German information and communication technology (ICT). The city is home to a population of 530,000, of
which 372,500 are said to be ‘gainfully employed’, and its gross domestic product (based on 2014) is €26bn, or approximately £23bn. The automation and production engineering sector is the biggest
Firm has a Hart for international trade
A Midlands company has doubled its exports in just 12 months after working with the Department for International Trade (DIT) to develop its website. Wolverhampton-based Hart Materials has
been working closely with the DIT team in Staffordshire to put in place a bespoke export strategy, targeting Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary and Slovenia. Part of this strategy has included a focus on the company’s website, making it more accessible to potential clients. After receiving DIT funding, the company
– which supplies metals, alloys and metallic- composite products to the manufacturing sector – commissioned their digital provider to add eight new welcome pages to the website, each in the language of the targeted countries. Dr Tony Hart, who founded Hart Materials
in 1981, said: “We have been amazed at the increase in traffic since we launched those welcome pages, and in the 12 months to April this year we have seen our exports double from about 16 per cent to 32 per cent.” Companies interested in breaking into
overseas markets and taking advantage of the global appetite for UK goods and services can visit the new online trade hub,
great.gov.uk, part of the Government’s ‘Exporting is GREAT’ initiative.
24 CHAMBERLINK October 2017 Dr Michael Fraas: cities moving closer together
‘Thanks to the direct flight between Birmingham and Nuremberg, our high-tech regions will now move closer’
employer in Nuremburg, providing jobs for 165,000 people. Other important employers are medicine and health (127,000 jobs) and transport and logistics (123,000 jobs).
Nuremburg is also an important leisure and
tourism destination, and has a vast arts and culture scene, with a host of museums dedicated to design, painting and modern art. The city also boasts the first (and only) fully automatic underground train system in Europe. Nuremburg is also a major conference venue,
with the NurnbergMesse venue including 15 exhibition halls and more than 170,000 sq m of exhibition space. The venue hosts around 120 major trade fairs each year. Those taking part in the business exchange
include Dr Michael Fraas, Nuremberg’s deputy mayor for economic affairs and Marco von Dobschutz-Dietl, who is the city’s head of international economic affairs. Dr Michael Fraas said: “Birmingham and
Nuremberg are both high tech regions with similar industry clusters like automotive, innovative services, cultural and creative industry. “The economic networking between the cities
serves a focal point to strengthen the economic development. Thanks to the direct flight between Birmingham and Nuremberg, our high- tech regions will now move closer.”
On show: Shanghai’s National Exhibition and Convention Centre
Midlands Engine roars into China
Midlands Engine is leading a mission to the Far East next month, focusing on one of the most influential international industry exhibitions in China. The exhibition is the China International
Industry Fair (CIIF) in Shanghai (6-10 November), an event aimed at manufacturers, but which is also an important platform for international trade. This year’s CIIF is the 19th and comprises nine
exhibitions occupying 280,000 sq m of space. The nine shows will feature more than 2,500 exhibitors and will attract around 160,000 trade visitors. The shows will include metalworking, science and technology, aerospace, industrial automation, and robotics. The Midlands Engine delegation will be able to take advantage of a packed programme, including
a number of pre-event activities to ensure participants understand the opportunities and preparation required for doing business in China. There will also be a market briefing and tour
of the exhibition and 8 November will be ‘Midlands Engine Day’, where participants will
be able to demonstrate their products and services to local and national media. Midlands Engine chairman Sir John Peace
said: “Increasing trade and attracting investment is one of the ways the Midlands Engine will boost economic growth in the region. “China is already a key and growing market
for many Midlands businesses and offers great potential for many more. I’m delighted that I will be joining this mission and I urge businesses seeking to maximise the potential of the Chinese opportunity to come with us.”
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